Wireless network device with a signal detection function and switching method for the same

ABSTRACT

A wireless network device is provided for switching into a first functional mode and a second functional mode according to the source of received power. The wireless network device includes a wireless network communication module, a processor, a power module, and a voltage regulator. The wireless network communication module is utilized for transceiving wireless network signal, and the processor is connected to the wireless network communication module. The power module selectively receives a power from one of a battery and a computer. The voltage regulator is connected to the processor, for selectively switching into the first functional mode when receiving the power form the battery, or switching into the second functional mode when receiving the power from the computer.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/195,710, filed on Aug. 3, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a wireless network device provided with two functional mode and method of switching for the same, and more particularly to a switching determination according to a source of the power received by the wireless network device.

2. Description of Related Art

Thanks to a public wireless network gradually being created everywhere, users have increasing chances to use wireless local area network (WLAN) in public places. Users do not, however, actually carry out wireless networking at all times, everywhere. They must turn on devices provided with a wireless networking function, such as, for example, a PDA or a portable computer, to determine whether a wireless network signal is present through a wireless network utility working with an internal or external wireless network device prior to use of the wireless networking service.

A general external wireless network device, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,633,583, is a wireless communication receiver using a universal serial bus (USB) as an interface, in which a signal conversion circuit is used to convert a wireless signal received from an RF module into a signal based on USB protocol, or convert and transfer a digital signal based on USB protocol to the RF module, and then send out the signal through an antenna.

As shown in FIG. 1, a wireless device connected to a PC host 16 through a USB host interface 14 is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,782,245. The wireless device is structured with an antenna 11 receiving and transmitting signals and connected to a receiver 12 for converting the signals according to the frequency of received signals into digital signals. The signals are then transmitted to a microcontroller unit 13 for decoding the signals and debugging, and next converting the signals into USB-based signals transmitted to the PC host 16 through the host interface 14. All the above devices are supplied with electric power by a power supply 15.

However, in view of the single function and structure provided in the wireless module and the lack of a full layout of wireless network, it is complicated and inefficient to detect the network signals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to provide a wireless network device which is able to switch into a first functional mode or a second functional mode according the source of the power.

In order to achieve the above object, a wireless network device is provided for switching into a first and a second functional mode according to the source of received power. The wireless network device includes a wireless network communication module, a processor, a power module, and a voltage regulator. The wireless network communication module is utilized for transceiving wireless network signal, and the processor is connected to the wireless network communication module. The power module selectively receives a power from one of a battery and a computer. The voltage regulator is connected to the processor, for selectively switching into the first functional mode when receiving the power form the battery, or switching into the second functional mode when receiving the power from the computer.

For example, in a preferred embodiment, the first functional mode is a wireless network signal detection mode, while the second functional mode is a wireless NIC mode. When the wireless network device receives the power from the battery, the wireless network device switches into wireless network signal detection mode, to scan the wireless network signals independently without being connected to a computer and finally gives a result.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a wireless network device of prior art;

FIG. 2A is a schematic view illustrating a wireless network device according to this invention;

FIG. 2B is a schematic view illustrating application of the wireless network device according to this invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the circuit of wireless network device according to this invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method of switching of the wireless network device functioning to detect signals according to this invention; and

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In this invention, a wireless network device provided with a first functional mode and a second functional mode is disclosed. The first functional mode is wireless signal detection mode, while the second functional mode is wireless NIC mode. A detection module for detecting wireless signals is provided in addition to the conventional wireless device, and the device is designed with a voltage determination mechanism to switch the device functions according to different load voltage types.

As shown in FIG. 2A, for an embodiment of a wireless network device 20, a conventional wireless USB NIC comprises a network signal detection switch 23 and a status indicating lamp 25 installed therein. When the wireless network device 20 works independently, the switch 23 must be manually switched on with a battery provided internally to detect whether a wireless signal exists in a specified space. The lamp 25 indicates the status of signal; the lamp 25 is not limited to the lamp depicted in the figure and may be replaced with, for example, one or a plurality of LEDs, an LCD, an OLED, or a 7-segment display, as shown in FIG. 1.

When the wireless network device 20 is connected to a PC 27 through a USB interface port 21, as shown in FIG. 2B, the voltage regulator thereof detects a load voltage when the device works independently and then switches to a general wireless NIC mode. The battery power is not consumed in detection of the wireless signal because the power is applied by the PC 27 and wireless network detection software installed in the PC 27 is executed by the PC 27 instead of the wireless network detection mechanism of the wireless network device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the circuit of the wireless network device provided according to this invention. As shown in FIG. 2A, the wireless network device includes a wireless network communication module 30, a voltage regulator 31, a power module 32, an interface unit 33, a detection module 34, a battery 35, a processor 36, and a indication unit 37.

Referring to FIG. 3, the wireless network communication module 30 transceives wireless network signal with the combination of an antenna module 301, an RF module 302, and a baseband module 303. The RF processing and baseband modulation functions are designed in the hardware module, in which the RF module works for frequency synthesis, data conversion, and noise filtering, while the baseband processing works for message coding, encryption and decryption, frequency hop (FH), and packet processing. The antenna module 301 is connected for achievement of wireless communication.

Further, in order to detect the wireless network signal, the detection module 34 is connected to the baseband module 303 of the wireless network communication module 30, and after the antenna module 301 receives the wireless signal, the detection module 34 eliminates background noise and ambient interference accompanying the signal and meanwhile adjusts the detection range to determine the source of the signal.

The wireless network communication module 30 is connected to the processor 36 to convert the wireless signal received by the wireless network communication module 30 into a digital signal and then transmit the same to the PC or transmit the digital signal to the wireless network device 20 from the PC through the interface unit 33. The processor 36 then converts the signal into an RF signal and transmits the same from the wireless network communication module 30. The indication unit 37 is connected to the processor 36, and the processor 36 converts the detection result into electric power to drive the indication unit 37 in the embodiment, such as the indicating lamp in FIG. 2A or an LED, an OLED, or an LCD device, to emit light. The indication unit 37 in the embodiment shows the wireless network signal, the strength thereof, or a wireless network identification message thereof. Alternatively, the indication unit 37 may be implemented in the manner of sound, vibration, or a combination of the manners mentioned above.

The voltage regulator 31 is connected to the processor 36 and the power module 32 to receive the message of load voltage and then determine the functions of switching with the load voltage passing through the device, such as a wireless network mode or a wireless network signal detection mode. The power module 32 is connected to an internal or external battery 35 or an interface unit 33 to manage the power of device, in which the interface unit 33 is a USB, IEEE1394, or PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) interface to the PC. When the wireless network device 20 according to this invention works independently, the battery 35 is the power source; at this time the voltage regulator 31 determines the load voltage of the device and then switches to the wireless network signal detection mode. When the device is connected to the PC through the interface unit 33, it switches to the wireless NIC mode. At this time the PC supplies electric power. With the switching mechanism, the versatile wireless network device that detects the network signal without the PC's help is achieved.

After the device is turned on by the switch, the signal indicating device shows the wireless network signal, strength thereof, or the wireless network identification message. The signal indicating device is, for example, an LED-based indicating lamp or an LCD, or is implemented as a sound, a vibration, or a combination of the implementations mentioned above.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method of switching of the wireless network device to detect signals according to this invention. The main steps of the method include the following. The wireless network device according to this invention must be turned on (step S401). The wireless network device may work independently with power supplied by the battery, or may be connected to the PC supplying power thereto. The voltage regulator in the device detects the load voltage of the device (step S403). The voltage varies with the power supply. If, for example, the battery supplies power, the voltage may be 3.3 V, and if the PC supplies the power through the interface, the voltage may be 5 V. According to the determination of voltage regulator to the load voltage, the device is switched to the wireless network signal detection mode or the wireless NIC mode (step S405). An example of switching to the wireless network signal detection mode is given in a preferred embodiment of this invention. At the time of entry into the wireless network signal detection mode, a surrounding wireless network signal is scanned and detected by the detection module (step S407). Finally, a scan result is submitted (step S409).

In a flow chart shown in FIG. 5, the preferred embodiment is described. Initially, the power of wireless network device is provided by the battery or the PC (step S501). Next, the load voltage is detected (step S503). The detected voltage is greater or less than a determination value (step S505). The value is a default load voltage of wireless network device according to this invention, and is classified for a plurality of ranks. The source of the power that the wireless network device can be determined according to the load voltage, thus switching into different functional modes is implemented according to the source of the power.

In step S505, if the power is received from the PC, the load voltage is not less than the determination value, switching to the wireless NIC mode (the first functional mode) is implemented (step S507). And if the power is received from the battery, the load voltage is less than the determination value, switching to the wireless network signal detection mode is implemented (step S509). At this time, the wireless network device is supplied with less voltage by the battery, and works independently to detect the wireless network signal. The scale of voltage, however, is determined mainly by actual operation, so it is not limited by the embodiment.

Next, the processor asks the baseband module to detect the wireless network signal (step S511). The wireless network communication module especially scans the wireless network signal (step S513), and receives feedback packets in a specified time to detect and then determine upon the received signals whether the wireless network signal exists (step S515). A result is submitted (step S517), and the feedback packets sent from the baseband module are returned to the processor to eliminate background noise and ambient interference accompanying the signal and detect the range for determination of the source of the signal and the wireless network signal (step S519). Finally, the processor shows the result on the indication unit to inform a user of the status of wireless network signal (step S521).

The accompanying drawings in the embodiments are provided for reference and illustration only and not intended to limit the terms or scope of this invention.

To sum up, this invention is a wireless network device provided with a signal detection function and method of switching for the same. The device switches the wireless network module upon the load voltage to the general wireless NIC mode or the wireless network signal detection mode for achievement of multiple functions. However, in the description mentioned above, only the preferred embodiments according to this invention are provided without limit to claims of this invention; all those skilled in the art without exception should include the equivalent changes and modifications as falling within the true scope and spirit of the present invention. 

1. A wireless network device provided with a first functional mode and a second functional mode, comprising: a wireless network communication module for transceiving a wireless network signal; a processor connected to the wireless network communication module; a power module for selectively receiving a power from one of a battery and a computer; and a voltage regulator connected to the processor, for selectively switching into the first functional mode when receiving the power form the battery, or switching into the second functional mode when receiving the power from the computer.
 2. The wireless network device according to claim 1, wherein the first functional mode is a wireless network signal detection mode.
 3. The wireless network device according to claim 2, further comprising: a detection module connected to the wireless network communication module, for detection wireless network signals.
 4. The wireless network device according to claim 2, further comprising: a network signal detection switch for starting the wireless network signal detection mode.
 5. The wireless network device according to claim 2, further comprising: an indication unit connected to the processor, for showing detection result of the detection module.
 6. The wireless network device according to claim 1, wherein the second functional mode is a wireless NIC mode.
 7. The wireless network device according to claim 6, further comprising: a wireless network detection software, which is executed in the wireless NIC mode.
 8. A method of switching functions of a wireless network device with a first functional mode and a second functional mode, comprising steps of: starting the wireless network device; receiving a power from one of a battery and a computer; and switching the wireless network device into the first functional mode when receiving the power from the battery, and switching the wireless network device into the second functional mode when receiving the power from the computer.
 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the first functional mode is a wireless network signal detection mode.
 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the step of switching into the wireless network signal detection mode further comprises: detecting a feedback packet; receiving the feedback packet; processing the feedback packet to generate a detection result.
 11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the second functional mode is a wireless NIC mode.
 12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the step of switching into the wireless NIC mode further comprises: executing a wireless network detection software. 